Fastener for wirebound boxes



p 11, 1956 w. J. HOGAN FASTENER FOR WIREBOUND BOXES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Oct. 21, 1952 INVENTOR Willi/am lflo 'an BY W q ATTOR P 1, 1956 w.J. HOGAN FASTENER FOR WIREBOUND BOXES 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 21,1952 INVENTOR William J Ho an BY mwm+ zwf ATTO Y5 FASTENER FOR WIREBOUNDBOXES William J. Hogan, Dover, N. J., assignor to Stapling Machines Co.,Rockaway, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application October 21, 1952,Serial No. 315,940 1 Claim. (Cl. 21" I68) This invention relates tofasteners for wirebound boxes (which term is used herein to includecrates and other containers), and more particularly, to interengageableloop fasteners, such as are used at the closing corners of wireboundboxes.

In the commercial manufacture of wirebound boxes, the wirebound boxblanks are formed by stapling together side material and reinforcingcleats to form a plurality, usually four, box sections or sides securedtogether by binding wires stapled thereto. The box blanks normally issuefrom the box blank-making machine in a continuous succession securedtogether by the binding wires, with spaces between the adjacent boxblanks in the chain to provide short lengths of wire at either end ofeach box blank for the subsequent formation of interengageablefasteners.

The present invention constitutes an improvement in fasteners of theloop or rock fastener type, such as are disclosed in U. S. Patent No.1,933,030 issued to A. L. Rosenmund October 31, 1933. These fastenersare customarily formed in machines of the type disclosed in U. S. PatentNo. 1,933,031, also issued to A. L. Rosenmund October 31, 1933. In suchmachines, the binding wires are severed near the center of the spacesbetween adjacent box blanks, downwardly extending prongs are formed inthe wire ends, and the wires are bent to form loops in their endportions and to place the prongs over the edges of the box blanks. Theprongs are then driven through the side material of the box blanks andclinched down against their under-surfaces to secure the loops.

When the box blank is folded around to set up the box, the loopfasteners at one end of the box blank, being somewhat narrower thanthose at the other end of the box blank, are inserted through the latterand are bent down to secure the box closed. These loop fasteners havethe decided advantage over other types in that they may be opened byhand. Moreover, they may be opened and closed repeatedly withoutdestroying or deforming them, so that they give the boxes an extendeduseful life.

However, unless special precautions are taken in locating the stapleswhich secure the binding wires to the box sections, these loop fastenershave one disadvantage: in opening boxes or crates having such loopfasteners, it is difiicult to avoid bending the loop fasteners back fromthe outer surfaces of the box sides. This opens up the clinched-overfastener prongs and weakens the fasteners. Moreover, when the loopfasteners are again bent down against the box sides to secure the boxclosed, the prongs are forced away from the inner surfaces of the sidematerial and project into the box where they may injure personnelhandling the box or cause damage to the contents of the box.

The present invention obviates this disadvantage by providing loopfasteners wherein the wire ends are merely crimped or kinked and aresecured to the box sides by staples driven astride the wire ends infront of the crimps.

The. present invention has the additional advantage that it does notinvolve driving portions of the binding wires themselves through the boxsides; it thereby permits the use of binding wires made of softer orfiner gauge material, of lower cost than binding wire stock required byprevious loop fastener constructions. The loop fasteners provided by thepresent invention may also be made with relatively simple andinexpensive handor power-operated stapling devices. a a

The staples which secure the loop fasteners may be clinched into the boxsides and flush with their inner surfaces so as to eliminate anypossibility of damage to the contents of the box. The staples alford anexceptionally strong anchor for the loop fasteners, even when driven insuch materials as thin veneer, corrugated fiberboard, or the like, whichare frequently used as side material in wirebound boxes.

Other advantages and objects of the present invention will be apparenthereinafter.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a wirebound box blank having loopfasteners embodying features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view, at slightly enlarged scale, of acompletely assembled, closed and partially secured wirebound box formedfrom a box blank of the type shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view, at still further enlargedscale, of a portion of the top of the box, showing one of the loopfasteners thereon;

Figure 4. is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the closing corner of thebox, with the top in closed position, showing the loop fastener on thefront side of the box insertedthrough the loop fastener on the top ofthe box, before securing of the fasteners together; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view similar to Figure 5 but showing the loopfasteners secured together to maintain the box closed. The wirebound boxblank shown in Figure 1 has fou'r box sections or sides, generallyindicated 10, 12, 14 and 16, formed of side material 18 and reinforcingcleats 20 and 20 stapled thereto. The box sections aresecured togetherby binding wires 22 which extend the length of the box blank and aresecured to the several box sections by staples 24 driven astride thebinding wires 22 and into the box sections.

At the opposite ends of the box blank, the binding wires 22 are formedso as to provide loop fasteners 26 and 28. As indicated in broken lines,these loop fasteners are formed from the portions of the binding wiresbetween adjacent box blanks in the continuous succession of box blanksissuing from the box blank-making machine. The end portions of thebinding wires 22 are bent so as to form the loop fasteners 26 and 28 andto place the ends of the binding wires over the adjacent edges of theend sections of the box blank. These wire ends are secured to the boxsections in the manner best shown in Figures 3 and 4. As may be seen inthese figures, the end of each of the binding wires is provided with twocrimps or kinks 30, and a pair of staples 24 are driven astride thebinding wire to secure the wire end to the box side.

In the particular form of fasteners shown in the drawings, each of thecrimps has the shape of an open loop extending outwardly from theadjacent surface of the box side along a plane generally perpendicularto such surface. Each of the staples is driven down tightly against thestraight or uncrirnped portion of the wire, adjacent one of the crimpson the side of the crimp nearest the adjacent edge of the box blank.

As may be seen in Figure 4, the ends 24a of the staples 24 which securethe wire ends are clinched down into the undersurface 18a of the sidematerial 18 of the'box blank, so that they are flush with the innersurface 13a and will not project into the interior of the assembled boxwhere they might damage the contents of the box.

In Figures 2 and 5, the box is shown in closed position with thenarrower loops 28 which extend upwardly from the front section 16 of thebox inserted through the wider loops 26 which project forwardly from thetop section 10 of the box. Figure 6 shows one of the fasteners after theloop 28 has been pulled downwardly and pressed against the outer surfaceof the front section 16 ofthe box to secure the two loops together andmaintain the box in closed position;

The box illustrated in Figure 2 is of the All-Bound type wherein the boxends 32 are secured to the box sides by loop fasteners 34 formed at theends of binding wires 36 stapled to the box ends, the loop fasteners 34being inserted through notches 20a in the cleats 20 of the front andback sections 16 and 12 of the box and bent around the corners of thebox to secure the box' in assembled relation. These loop fasteners areformed like the loop fasteners 26 and 28, being secured by crimps and bystaples driven astride the binding wires in front of the crimps.accordance with the present invention may be used on various box partswherever loop fasteners are used to secure adjacent box parts togetherin the assembled box.

These fasteners may be disengaged and reengaged repeatedly withoutdestroying them or reducing their effectiveness and without potentialdamage to the contents of the box or injury to personnel handling thebox. The combination of crimping and stapling embodied in the presentfasteners has been found to give them exceptional pull-out resistance.the wire is anchored at two spaced points, the loop is fixed againstlateral movement in the plane of the loop to a degree not possible withprevious constructions. This enables the fasteners strongly to resistlongitudinal shift- This illustrates how fasteners constructed in overstaple ends (in lieu of the one clinched-over prong of' conventionalrock fastener constructions) the possibility of failure due to tearingof the side material is appreciably reduced, an attribute of the presentfastener which particularly recommends it for use with relatively thinor fragile side material.

Although each of the loop fasteners shown and described herein isprovided with two crimps and two staples, modified forms of loopfasteners embodying the same general principle but having more or lessthan this number of crirnps and staples have been found satisfactory formany applications. Thus, while it will be appreciated that theaforementioned and other desirable objects have been achieved by theparticular embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, it should beemphasized that this embodiment is intended as merely illustrative andnot as restrictive of the invention.

I claim:

In awirebound box part of the type having a binding wire stapledthereto, an improved loop fastener comprising a length of said bindingwire extending from an edge of said box part and having its end portionbent back over said box part to form an interengageable loop, a crimp insaid end portion, said crimp extending outwardly from the surface ofsaid box in the general shape of a shallow U with its open end facingthe surface of said box part and with the portions of the binding wireon 1 either side of said crimp engaging the surfacevof said box part,and a staple driven astride said binding wire closely adjacent the sideof said crimp nearer said edge of said box part, with the two legs ofsaid staple being driven through said box part and clinched over againstits under-surface to secure said loop fastener.

Moreover, since the end portion of ing of the two adjacent box sectionsrelative to one another and gives unusual strength and rigidity to thebox. And, since the wire end is anchored by means of four clinched-References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

